“You’re still coming?” Finley asked softly, eyes wide.
Tanner realized the awe and love he was feeling was coming from Finley, through their newly strengthened bond, loud and clear. He let his own flow, wanting to make sure Finley felt it from him too. Tanner nodded. “Yeah, my body doesn’t quite understand that I’m not, uh, breeding you right now.”
Finley let out a surprised laugh. “Yeah, no sorry, I’m not equipped quite right for that.”
Tanner grinned. “Too bad. You’d look cute in maternity clothes.”
Finley hit him, making him laugh. “Maybe you ought to be the one to have to wear them.”
The grin widened. “Well, now, if I could get pregnant? I might be convinced.”
Finley snorted. “You’d never make it through labor.”
“Are you saying I can’t take pain?”
Finley pinched his ass and he yelped.
“Right, so….” They both laughed. Tanner leaned in and kissed Finley softly, brushing his lips slowly over his mate’s. When he pulled back, he was surprised to realize his body hadn’t let go yet. He couldn’t find it in himself to care. “You know,” he said thoughtfully. “We’re going to have to do this a lot until we can get back to Pennsylvania and set up the claiming.”
Finley’s eyebrows went up. “Oh?”
Tanner nodded. “Yeah, our wolves apparently don’t like an incomplete bond. The only way to keep them happy—and under control—is to keep them sexually satisfied.”
“Oh, well, I suppose if we have to,” Finley said, struggling to keep a straight face.
“I’m sure we can make the sacrifice for our wolves.” Tanner grinned. “I think I’ll have to buy more lube.”
Finley laughed. “I’m sure we can manage that. How long do you think we’ll be tied?”
Tanner shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never tied before.”
Finley’s eyes widened. “You haven’t?”
“No. I, uh, I don’t exactly have a lot of past partners, but those I did have… my body never thought it was actually mating before.”
The smile on Finley’s face warmed Tanner down to his toes. “That… I like knowing that.”
Tanner kissed Finley softly on the forehead and cheeks. “So, yeah… I’ve heard it can take up to half an hour.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. Uh….” Tanner worked his arms under Finley’s back. “Watch your leg,” he said and managed to roll them without pulling too hard on the still-swollen knot. He didn’t want to hurt Finley, and pulling too hard might cause Finley problems, possibly even causing tearing. He settled Finley onto his chest. “There. Now I won’t crush you.”
“You don’t weigh that much more,” Finley said, snickering.
Tanner grinned. “In another year or two, I won’t weigh more than you at all.” He ran his hand down Finley’s back, fingers brushing over the spot where they were still connected.
Finley’s smile faded. “I love that—like having you inside me, like being tied to you that way.”
Tanner tugged Finley down until his lips were close enough to kiss. “I love being inside you and tied to you. I’m so sorry, baby.”
Finley shut him up with a kiss. It was soft, slow, obviously not intended to arouse. And Tanner felt the love and forgiveness tinged with a bit of regret through their bond.
When they broke apart, he brushed his thumb over Finley’s cheek. “You have to let it go too, baby. I’m not mad at you for what happened. It really is my own fault. But we’re mated now, and I’m going to claim you as soon as I can manage it.” He tried not to let what might happen worry him. He wondered again why it had to be so visual, if there was more than the pack simply watching the act. He shook it off, reminding himself that those are human worries, not wolf worries.
“What’s wrong?” Finley asked and Tanner smiled ruefully.
“I forget you can feel my worry now.”
Finley grinned. “Yes. And that doesn’t get you out of telling me.”
Tanner rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’m trying not to let the public claiming bother me.” He wondered if Finley was actually projecting the soothing feeling, or if Finley was just that unconcerned about the claiming. He decided to ask.
Finley’s eyes widened and he looked a little too innocent. “Of course it’s how I feel.”
Tanner smacked Finley’s ass. “You can’t lie to me anymore.”
Finley grinned. “Good. Actually, it was both. I’m not worried about it, but if I can calm you down, I’m going to.”
“That’s… really cool.”
Finley rested his head on Tanner’s chest, and Tanner closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Finley’s back. He ran his hands over the soft skin, enjoying the simple touch. Finley kissed him lightly now and again as they lay there quietly.
Finally, the knot subsided, and Tanner went soft enough to pull out. He rolled them again so he could be careful with it, knowing they’d been rough and hadn’t used real lube. When he eased out, he stopped, staring at the still-stretched hole and his cum leaking from Finley. “Fuck, that’s hot,” he whispered.
“What is?” Finley asked, looking down at them.
“Seeing my cum leak out of you,” Tanner said, voice husky.
Finley’s eyes bled black and his cock twitched and started to fill. He moaned, and Tanner’s own vision went gray in reaction. He took a deep breath, and the smell of his mate mixed with arousal, sex, and cum slammed into his nose. He moaned again before he could stop it. He closed his eyes and fought his wolf back for the moment.
When he opened his eyes again, he was seeing in color once more. “We need to get going. Your family is probably going crazy, and the next time I have you—which will be soon—it’ll be in a bed with lots of lube and plenty of time.”
Finley closed his eyes and breathed deeply a few times. When he opened them, the green showed through again. “Right. Okay. Uh…. Now what?”
“I’m thinking it’s best if we go in wolf form and shift now and again to check for a signal. I saw a tiny town due west at the end of the river. How’s your ankle?”
Finley flexed it. “I can walk on it. Not a lot of running, yet.”
Tanner held out a hand, and Finley took it, sitting up. “We’ll be careful. Hopefully, there’ll be a pack there, or at least a signal and a place to wait. I don’t want you going farther than you have to on that leg.”
Finley smiled, and the happiness that Tanner felt through their bond warmed him. “I’ll be fine.”
“That emotion thing’s going to take some getting used to.”
Finley laughed. “I know. I’m looking forward to it, though.” He paused, and Tanner didn’t need to feel through the bond to know his mate’s anxiety. “Bear.”
Tanner lifted his nose and sniffed. Sure enough, too close for comfort, he could smell it. “Let’s shift and get moving.” He snatched up the bandana, checked the phone and noted he was down to half battery, then wrapped it back up and tied it on. He paused to pull Finley in and give him a hard, deep kiss. “Let’s go.”
A few seconds later, he was looking at Finley’s beautiful black fur. He let his own wolf out and landed on four paws. He licked Finley’s face, then crept to the tree line. When he didn’t see anything, he hurried out, turning left and heading toward the riverbank. He glanced up to see the sun had passed overhead. If he was any judge, it was midafternoon. They’d spent more time talking and making love than he’d realized.
With any luck they could still make the small town before dark. He wasn’t interested in spending another night out in the wilderness. He’d had enough for the moment. He wanted a warm, soft bed… and Finley, naked in it. Checking to make sure Finley was walking well enough, he lifted his snout and sniffed. He could still smell the bear closer than he’d like, but it didn’t seem to be getting any closer than before, at least.
He turned back to his mate and shifted briefly. Finley stopped walking and tilted his head. “You lead, st
ick to the river, and set the pace, that way I won’t go too fast for you.”
Finley rolled his eyes, and Tanner felt the exasperation, but Finley did as he was told and took the lead.
Shifting again, Tanner fell in step behind him.
Chapter Fourteen
THEY STOPPED briefly to hunt. Finley had slowed his pace a bit, and the droopy tail and ears had told Tanner how rundown Finley was. He wanted to curse himself for taking more of Finley’s energy for lovemaking, but apparently his mate didn’t like the emotions he was sending through their link because Finley turned around and gave him a wolfish glare.
Tanner let it go, then shifted and tilted his head toward the trees. “We need to hunt. I can see you need food, baby.”
Finley rolled his eyes.
Tanner frowned, guessing Finley didn’t want to just stop for himself. “Look, I haven’t had anything since I got to La Grande except the single hare this morning. I need food too.”
Finley hesitated but nodded.
Tanner would be glad when they had their telepathy. Trying to communicate in wolf form with only emotions to guide them was already getting old. He shifted back and led Finley off the riverbank and up into the trees.
Very little wildlife populated the area they found themselves in. They saw a small herd of mountain sheep, but with Finley’s bad ankle, Tanner didn’t want to try to fight the males he saw protecting the herd. They turned away from the sheep, dodged around a goat herd, and managed to track down more hares and a few marmots. The things looked a bit like supersized squirrels, and Tanner was glad they had plenty of meat to them. They were a lot more nourishing than their squirrely cousins, and before long, Tanner and Finley were able to get back on the western route home.
When they came across a parking area with a boat launch and saw that the road leading to it followed the river, they had to backtrack and find a way up the side of the hill. It took them longer than Tanner would have liked. The sun had gone down completely, and he was afraid they were going to end up having to spend the night in the forest again. He didn’t mind being in wolf form, didn’t mind being with Finley in wolf form. But Fin needed to be able to shift a few more times, and to do that, he’d need more than they could hunt in that area. Hares and squirrels only went so far.
Entirely aside from that, he could already feel the pull toward his mate again. The incomplete bond was going to drive him nuts. And he was determined the next time he made love to Finley, it would be in a bed with real lube. He wanted to get them back to Oregon.
Still, they kept moving, Finley able to maintain a nice trot now that he’d eaten and shifted twice more.
Tanner checked the phone a few times, but each time found his sent message still waiting to go. He started to get worried, especially when he saw the battery indicator dropping fast. That worry got worse when they approached the hill above the little town they’d been heading for and he hadn’t heard any alerts from the phone yet.
Sure enough, though, as soon as they crested the hill and picked their way down the other side along a dry creek bed, Tanner heard the unmistakable ping of a text message. He shifted on the spot and scrambled to pull out his phone.
Praying it was from Grammy and Grandpaw and not something he didn’t want, he swiped his finger over the screen to unlock it. He let out a breath when he saw who it was from, but he was annoyed to see the battery indicator flashing and red. He hurried to open the message.
Oh thank Mercury! Thank you so much! Call us when you get this and we’ll come pick you up. It’ll take a while, but we’ll be there as soon as we can.
Before Tanner could so much as type in two letters, the screen flashed, the shutdown animation played, and his phone merrily announced it was turning off with the cute tune to go along with it. Tanner was now staring at a very dead cell phone. Now what are we going to do?
“Baby? What’s up?”
Finley’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “Well, Grammy and Grandpaw got the message. Apparently, there’s a signal here.”
“That’s good! So why are you annoyed?”
Tanner chuckled. “That damned bond is going to get me in so much trouble.”
“Probably.” Finley laughed. “What’s up?”
“Phone’s dead.” Tanner sighed.
“Shit.”
“That sums it up pretty well.” He glanced up at the moon, but couldn’t really gauge the time well from it. “Unless we want to walk all the way home in wolf form, we need a phone.” He looked down the hill at the small collection of buildings at its base, then up the road to the larger cluster that made up the town. “I guess we’ll have to go up to one of the buildings.”
Finley made a face. “How do we explain being naked?”
That thought made his wolf want to bite something. Hard. There was no way in hell Tanner was letting his mate walk into someone’s house naked. “I’ll go. I’ll tell them I lost my clothes and raft in the river or something.”
He was nearly knocked off his feet by the blast of jealousy he got from Finley through their bond.
“You’re not going into someone’s house.”
Tanner blinked at him. “Fin?”
“No.” He crossed his arms, face set.
Uh-oh. “Uh… someone’s got to. And you sure as hell aren’t.”
Finley raised his eyebrow. “So, you’re allowed to, but I’m not.”
“Of course.” Something in the back of his mind tingled, telling him he shouldn’t pursue this, but he ignored it.
“I’m supposed to be okay with you going into a strangers house, naked, while I sit out here and wait like a good little mate—is that it?”
The tone should have warned him. The mild words should have clued him in. Tanner, however, didn’t pay attention to either. “Yes. Well, you’re not little,” he remembered to say.
“No, that’s true, I’m not,” Finley agreed.
It finally dawned on Tanner that he was about to get himself in really hot water. The problem was, he had no idea what to do to stop it. “But—” He cut himself off at the look on Finley’s face. He stared at his mate, trying to figure out what to say. He really was not going to let Finley go in somewhere naked. He licked his lips and glanced around, as if he could divine some wisdom from the surrounding trees.
Instead, he found salvation on the road a short distance away.
“A pay phone!” he blurted.
Finley blinked at him, then looked over his shoulder and down at the road. “You are so lucky,” he muttered, throwing a glare back at Tanner.
Tanner was too busy being relieved. “So, I’ll go—”
“The fuck you will,” Finley said, succinctly.
“But—”
“We’ll go.”
“Oh hell no. You stay—”
“I. Will. Not. Stay. Put. Like. Some. Child.” Finley reiterated each word with a poke to Tanner’s chest. “And you, my dear mate, are going to take your Neanderthal bullshit and shove it up your ass.”
Tanner realized he’d dug himself in deep. He thought the best plan of attack at this point might just be to… shut up. He tried not to wince over the pure fury pouring through their bond. He didn’t think he succeeded. “So, uh, how do you think we should proceed?”
When the fury abated somewhat, he patted himself on the back.
“It’s simple. We both go. The phone is in a dark enough part of the parking lot. I’ll call. You watch for anyone to approach.”
“B—” Tanner stopped and gulped at the look Finley sent him. “Uh, sounds good. We’ll, err, shift after the call.”
Finley smiled, but Tanner knew there was no happiness in it. “That will work until they get here.”
Tanner simply nodded, deciding discretion was the better part of valor. And now that he could have Finley in his bed, he needed to figure out how to not jeopardize that. He thought he might have a lot to learn.
“Shift first?” Finley asked, waving toward the part of the hill they still h
ad to get down.
Tanner nodded again. “Yeah, I think so too.” After tying the cell phone back around his neck, they both shifted and picked their way the rest of the distance down the hill. They snuck along the eastern branch of the same river they’d been following until they came to the parking lot they’d seen from the hill.
They shifted back while still in the trees, then stepped forward. Tanner’s gaze darted around the parking lot until he was sure it was safe; then he held up a hand and waved Finley forward. They ran through the small pool of light from the moon as they made it to the building.
Tanner blocked Finley’s body with his own, pointedly ignoring the irritation and jealousy from his mate. Instead, he focused on watching for people. He listened with half an ear to Finley making the call, waiting impatiently for them to accept the charges.
“Grammy!”
“Oh, Finley! I’m so glad he found you! Are you okay? Why are you calling? Where’s Tanner?”
Finley let out a breath, and Tanner put an arm around Finley over the relief he was feeling over their bond. “He’s right here, Grammy. We’re fine, mostly. Naked, though, of course, and the phone died.”
“Oh. Oh dear. Okay. Where are you?”
Finley looked over at Tanner, who had to think for a few seconds, then remembered. “Riggings? Riggins. Idaho.”
“Okay, give me just a moment,” Grammy said. Her muffled voice came through as she relayed the information to the rest of the room.
“Riggins?” Grandpaw asked. “That’s… gods, four hours? Give or take.” There was more muffled discussion, and Tanner thought he heard Alpha Todd say something about no local pack.
“Did you hear that?” Grammy asked.
“Yeah. There’s no local pack. We’ll wait for you here. We’ll be behind a brown abandoned building along the main road. I’m not sure what the road is. Uh…. There’s a gas station next door—that’s the phone we’re using now, but we need to get out of sight.”
Devotion Page 17